Long Way Down

-Sammie

I pulled the old silver colander out from the cabinet as I was making pasta for dinner, preparing to drain the noodles.

“Sammie!” Hunter cried, “I’m not sure what this stuff is…. I need heeeelllpppp” I glanced back at her, stirring the noodles around in the sauce.

“Alright, well read it off to me.”

“Twenty plus nine, minus six.-Sammie, I just don’t know!” Hunter whined, kicking her short legs around.

“What is twenty plus nine?”

She quickly counted in her fingers. “Twenty-nine.”

“O.k. so, twenty-nine minus six?”

She looked back at her fingers taking away six from nine. “Twenty-two!?”

“Eh, count one more time.” I mixed the meat and pasta together being cautious of the hot sauce splattering everywhere.

-“Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three….” She quickly put two and two together. “Twenty-three!!”

I turned the eye off, filling plates up with the warm food. “That’s right! You two, clear the table off and wash up for dinner.”

They both moved around, gathering their things off the table. Hunter went to wash her hands up as Weston helped set the table. Hunter returned ready for dinner. I placed the rest of the items on the worn table just as someone knocked on my door.

“I’ll be right back. You and your brother bless the food and eat. Alright?-Stay here” I walked off to the door, with a curious mind, wondering who has come to my house.

I didn’t bother looking through the door. You can barely see through the hole anyway. I pulled the door open, looking into the fearless eyes of Tomlinson in the flesh. I couldn’t speak. The only safe place I had away from them was my home. My safe, comfortable, welcoming home.

“Look at what we have here! I guess you could say this is my lucky night!-First, getting laid, hanging with the boys, a few beers, and now, my favorite person. Well, favorite person to hate.” He laughed a dark, evil laugh and pushed himself into my place. I scrunched my nose up in disgust at his filthy words, I prayed the kids stay in the kitchen.

He continued to walk around, knocking a few things over here and there. The kids started laughing from dining room. He glanced up at me.

“I think it’s time for you to go, I believe you were here to drop my work off?” I rushed the words out as quickly as they would flow out of me and into him.

“Yes, but lets’ finish taking a look around. Shall we?” His body swiveled around, stalking towards the kitchen. “Hello there!” the sweet words sounding as if it pained him to say them.

“Who are you guys?”

I cleared my throat. “That’s Weston, and Hunter.” I looked at the kids and nudged them forward to wave. I didn’t want them getting associated with him in any way to be real. “So, the papers?”

He looked at me as if he were going to challenge me. I stepped towards the kids, resting my hand on the back of Weston’s chair.

“Yea, I’ll just leave them in the living room.-See you at school tomorrow.” He winked in my direction, right before retreating to the living room.

I sat down, not wishing to clasp to the ground from my uncontrollable shaking and ragged breathing.

“I’ll be right back. Alright? You two start your showers when you finish and Weston, help your sister with her homework please?”

“But Sam! I don’t want to do my homework!” Hunter pleaded with me.

“Look, do it and you’ll both get a treat Friday. O.k.? I’ll be in my room for a little while, the door will be cracked, holler if you need anything.-don’t hesitate.”- When I said don’t hesitate, I knew they wouldn’t. Hunter was like the Mini Me, the remotes too far from her, she yells for me to get out of the bathroom and get it for her. Lazy. But, oh, aren’t we all?

I try to calm down once in my room knowing that I will not in fact see Louis and the boys tomorrow because, I will not be attending school. I take a glance in the mirror. The swelling on my lips have gone down over the hours, my cheek is a little purple, and as I pull my stained shirt up I already know there are bruises along my rib cage. They were a terrible color. Yellow, with green dots mixed in, purple and blue in some places, black in a few. It was disgusting. I was disgusting.

I held in my tears knowing that the boys will probably come over after school once they see I’m not attending. I’m going to tell Miss. Donner- the kids’ mom that I can’t babysit for the rest of the week. They are like my kids. I feed them, bathe them, wash their clothes, help with homework, buy them stuff for school, take them out, sometimes they stay the night. But, not this week. They cannot get near the boys, I’ve never seen them around kids and so I’m not sure how they will truly act around them.

Whether it’s like a normal human being. Or their terrible ‘normal’ selves. I would pray it would be the first choice.

I hear Weston’s voice, bouncing off the walls and rolling into my room. I switch shirts quickly and make my way down the picture framed hallway.

Notes

Thanks for reading!
l.b.